Development helps peace take root in Liberia.

AuthorWitcher, Pureterrah

LIBERIA IS AT THE ONSET of what can be considered a rebirth, a new beginning for its people. In the last half-century Liberians have attained what once seemed so elusive: peace. This small West African country has rid itself of government corruption and ethnic violence and has worked to fully comply with disarmament operations led by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Today there are minor squabbles, but no civil war.

In just over three years, Liberia has proven that it can embrace peace and also reinforce it with free and fair elections. In 2005, it elected Africa's first female Head of State, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Still, even with this unprecedented political leap, reconstruction cannot depend solely on one leader. Although the President is a trained economist, she has no magic-wand solutions for the country. But in an effort to regain the trust of the international community, Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf has moved to implement a number of new economic policies, including cancellation of non-compliant forestry concessions and fraudulent contracts, requiring senior government appointees to declare their financial assets, implementation of cash-management practices to ensure fiscal discipline, and meeting the eligibility requirements under the United States general system of preferences.

UN officials stated that without development, peace would be short-lived. "The peace is a fragile one. Liberia is recovering, but far too slowly. Most funding has gone towards helping the country to demobilize combatants and to provide emergency aid. The Government has not received any direct budget support", said Oumar Diallo, an economic affairs officer with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Since the resignation in 2003 of Charles Taylor, Liberia's former President, donor support has increased significantly. Much of it, however, has been channelled to external social and community development projects, which means that many internal government initiatives are not being fully funded.

Internationally-backed development initiatives could be the golden elixir for the country, which has been under UN sanctions since 2001 due to allegations that the Taylor administration supported the rebels and the supposed trafficking in diamonds from Sierra Leone. "Now there is hope. The UN sanctions are still in place, but they will be reviewed in late June. A strong commitment by the new leadership to implement measures to improve public revenue...

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